A new approach for deciphering between single and multiple accumulation events using intra-tooth isotopic variations: Application to the Middle Pleistocene bone bed of Sch € oningen 13 II-4 Marie-Anne Julien a, i, j, *, 1 , Florent Rivals c, d, e , Jordi Serangeli f , Herv  e Bocherens b, g , Nicholas J. Conard f, h a Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany b Department of Geosciences, Biogeology, University of Tübingen, H€ olderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany c Instituci o Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain d Institut Catal a de Paleoecologia Humana i Evoluci o Social, C. Marcel.lí Domingo s/n, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain e Area de Prehist oria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain f Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany g Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, H€ olderlinstr. 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany h Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany i Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins, Archaeology Department, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK j Unit e Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Pr ehistorique (UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universit es, Mus eum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, 1 rue Ren e Panhard, 75013 Paris, France article info Article history: Received 20 June 2013 Accepted 15 February 2015 Available online 23 April 2015 Keywords: Equids Paleobiology Death events Mass vs. mutiple death Seasonality abstract It is often difficult to differentiate between archaeological bonebeds formed by one event such as a mass kill of a single herd, and those formed by multiple events that occurred over a longer period of time. The application of high temporal resolution studies such as intra-tooth isotopic profiles on archaeological mammal cohorts offers new possibilities for exploring this issue, allowing investigators to decipher between single and multiple accumulation events. We examined 18 O and 13 C isotopic variations from the enamel carbonate of 23 horse third molars from the Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Sch€ oningen. We employed a new approach to investigate processes of fossil accumulation that uses both bulk and intra-tooth isotopic variations and takes into account animal behavior, age at death and dental development to test the degree of isotopic affinity of animals from the same fossil assemblage. Oxygen and carbon isotope bulk values indicate that the horses from Sch€ oningen 13 II-4 experienced relatively similar climatic and dietary regimes. Inter-individual differences of the bulk values of the horses sampled in the current study present nevertheless inter-individual variability similar to individuals from multi-layered localities. In addition, the intra-tooth isotopic variation of specimens of the same age at death seems to indicate that the studied cohort corresponds to a mix of individuals that recorded both similar and different isotopic histories. Finally, the conditions recorded in the isotopic signal shortly before death (i.e., for teeth not fully mineralized) varied between sampled individuals, suggesting possible differences in the seasonality of death. Considering those results, we discuss the possibility that the horses from Sch€ oningen 13 II-4 correspond to an accumulation of different death events. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Introduction Prehistorians have placed great importance on the role of hunting activities in human evolution and view the development of hunting strategies as an indicator of cognitive abilities and human communication skills. The discovery of wooden spears in association with stone tools and butchered animal remains at Sch€ oningen suggested that systematic hunting involving * Corresponding author. E-mail address: m.julien@soton.ac.uk (M.-A. Julien). 1 Present address: Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins, Archaeology Department, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Southampton, SO171BF, UK. and Unit e Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Pr ehistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), Sorbonne Universit es, Mus eum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, 1 rue Ren e Panhard, 75013 Paris. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Human Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.02.012 0047-2484/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Human Evolution 89 (2015) 114e128